The art of choosing - Sheena Iyengar

Summary

In this talk, the speaker explores the concept of choice through cultural lenses, starting with a personal anecdote in Japan. She challenges the American belief in the superiority of individual choice, highlighting studies showing that Asian-American children perform better when choices are made for them. The speaker also critiques the assumption that more choices lead to better outcomes, using Eastern European perspectives as a counterpoint. She concludes by discussing the emotional burden of choice, suggesting that sometimes, the freedom to choose can be overwhelming and that different cultural narratives about choice can offer valuable insights.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The speaker begins in Kyoto, Japan, highlighting cultural differences in the concept of choice, particularly through the anecdote of ordering green tea with sugar.
• 🍵 The insistence on having green tea with sugar led to a cultural misunderstanding, revealing a fundamental difference in the idea of choice between the American and Japanese perspectives.
• 🇺🇸 From an American viewpoint, customers should have their preferences met, encapsulated by slogans like 'Have it your way' from Burger King.
• 🇯🇵 Conversely, the Japanese perspective is to guide and protect customers from making what they perceive as incorrect choices, reflecting a different cultural duty.
• 🧠 The first assumption discussed is that individuals should make choices affecting them, which is seen as essential for success in America.
• 🧑‍🎓 A study with children showed that American children performed better when they made their own choices, while Asian-American children did better when they believed their mothers made the choice.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 The study suggests that for some cultures, choice is a collective act that can enhance performance and relationships, contrasting with the American emphasis on individual choice.
• 📈 The second assumption is that more choices lead to better decisions, but the speaker's research in Eastern Europe indicates that an overload of choices can lead to confusion and fear.
• 🏪 Examples like Walmart and Amazon illustrate the abundance of choices available in America, but this abundance is not universally seen as beneficial.
• 🚫 The third assumption is that one must never say no to choice. The speaker discusses the emotional burden of making difficult choices, such as end-of-life decisions for a baby.
• 💔 The emotional impact of choice is profound, with American parents expressing more negative emotions than French parents when deciding on life support for their babies.
• 🌐 The speaker concludes by advocating for a more nuanced understanding of choice that incorporates different cultural narratives and the realization that choice's potential is not always realized.

Q & A

What cultural misunderstanding did the speaker experience in Japan?

The speaker ordered green tea with sugar in Japan, which is against the local custom. Despite the waiter's polite insistence that green tea is not served with sugar, the speaker requested it anyway, leading to a discussion with the manager who ultimately did not provide sugar.

How does the American perspective on choice differ from the Japanese perspective as described in the script?

The American perspective values individual choice and personal preference, as seen in slogans like 'Have it your way' from Burger King. In contrast, the Japanese perspective emphasizes protecting those who may not know better and guiding them to make culturally appropriate choices.

What was the purpose of the study conducted with children in Japan Town, San Francisco?

The study aimed to explore how choice affects performance in children. It compared the performance of children who chose their own activities, those who had activities chosen for them by an authority figure, and those who believed their mothers chose for them.

What were the findings of the study with children regarding the impact of choice on performance?

The study found that American children performed best when they made their own choices, while Asian-American children performed best when they believed their mothers made the choices for them.

What is the first assumption about choice discussed in the script?

The first assumption is that if a choice affects you, then you should be the one to make it, as it ensures that your preferences and interests are fully accounted for.

How did the Eastern Europeans perceive the variety of soda choices offered to them in the study?

Eastern Europeans perceived seven different sodas not as seven distinct choices but as one choice, 'soda or no soda', indicating a different approach to choice compared to Americans.

What is the second assumption about choice mentioned in the script?

The second assumption is that the more choices you have, the more likely you are to make the best choice.

What was the reaction of the Eastern Europeans to the sudden availability of many consumer products?

The sudden availability of many consumer products was overwhelming for the Eastern Europeans, leading to feelings of fear, confusion, and being flooded with choice.

What is the third assumption about choice discussed in the script?

The third assumption is that you must never say no to choice, implying that choice is always beneficial and should be embraced.

How did the American and French parents cope differently with the loss of their newborns in the study mentioned?

American parents, who had to make the decision to remove life support, were more likely to express negative emotions and feel trapped, guilty, and angry. French parents, where doctors made the decision, were more likely to find positive meaning in the short life of their child.

What does the speaker suggest as a way to better understand and utilize choice?

The speaker suggests engaging in the many translations of the narratives of choice, learning from different cultural perspectives, and incorporating new viewpoints to realize the full potential of choice.

How does the speaker's blindness influence her study of choice?

The speaker's blindness provides her with a different vantage point for observing how sighted people make choices, particularly those that are heavily influenced by visual inputs.

Outlines

00:00

🌏 Cultural Differences in Choice

The speaker begins by sharing their experience living in Kyoto, Japan, and the cultural misunderstandings they encountered. A key incident involved ordering green tea with sugar, which is unconventional in Japan, leading to a discussion with the waiter and manager. This scenario highlights the cultural differences in the concept of choice between the American and Japanese perspectives. The American view emphasizes individual preferences and the right to make one's own choices, while the Japanese approach focuses on guiding individuals to make culturally appropriate choices. The speaker also discusses assumptions about choice in American culture, such as the belief that individuals should make their own choices and that more choices lead to better outcomes.

05:01

🧩 The Impact of Choice on Performance

The speaker discusses a study conducted with children of different cultural backgrounds to understand how choice affects performance. The study compared the performance of American and Asian-American children on anagram puzzles when they had a choice, when they were told what to do, and when they believed their mothers chose for them. The results showed that American children performed best when they made their own choices, while Asian-American children performed better when they thought their mothers made the choice. This suggests that the cultural context and the perception of choice can significantly influence individual performance and satisfaction.

10:02

🌍 Overwhelming Choices and Cultural Perception

The narrative shifts to Eastern Europe, where the speaker interviews people from formerly communist countries adapting to a capitalist society with an abundance of choices. The participants often perceived multiple options as a single choice, like different soda brands as just 'soda'. This contrasts with the American tendency to value specific choices highly. The speaker reflects on how the concept of choice can be overwhelming and lead to confusion or fear, rather than liberation, especially when individuals are not accustomed to such an array of options.

15:06

🏥 The Burden of Choice in Tragic Circumstances

The speaker recounts a deeply personal story of a couple facing an impossible choice regarding their newborn's life support after a tragic incident. This story leads into a broader discussion about how the responsibility for making such decisions varies between cultures. In the US, parents are often given the choice to remove life support, whereas in France, doctors make this decision. The study mentioned indicates that American parents, who bear this choice, tend to experience more negative emotions and struggle with the decision longer than French parents. This highlights the emotional toll of choice and the cultural differences in how choices are managed.

20:08

🌸 The Narrative of Choice and Its Limitations

The speaker concludes by discussing the narrative of choice as a central theme in American culture, which promises freedom and success. However, they argue that this narrative has flaws and can lead to negative outcomes, such as the parents' struggle with guilt and regret after making a life-or-death decision. The speaker suggests that incorporating different perspectives on choice could enrich the American narrative and help individuals cope better with the realities and limitations of choice.

👁️‍🗨️ Perspective on Choice from a Blind Researcher

In a personal anecdote, the speaker, who is blind, shares her unique perspective on how sighted people make choices, particularly those influenced by visual elements like color and aesthetics. She recounts an experience in a beauty salon where she had difficulty choosing between two shades of pink nail polish based on their names and descriptions. Through a simple experiment, she discovers that the names given to the colors significantly influenced the choices of sighted individuals, even when the colors were identical. This story illustrates how the perception of choice can be influenced by external factors and the importance of considering diverse perspectives.

Keywords

💡Cultural Differences

Cultural differences refer to the variations in customs, beliefs, and social behaviors among distinct societies. In the video, cultural differences are exemplified through the speaker's experience in Japan, where the expectation of not adding sugar to green tea contrasted with their American preference for sweetened tea. This clash highlights how cultural norms can influence perceptions of choice and personal preference.

💡Choice

Choice is a central theme of the video, representing the power of individuals to make decisions that affect their lives. The speaker discusses how different cultures view choice differently, with Americans often associating it with freedom and personal agency. The video explores the impact of choice on well-being and the potential downsides of an overabundance of options.

💡Assumptions

Assumptions are presuppositions or things taken for granted. The video critiques certain American assumptions about choice, such as the belief that more choices always lead to better outcomes or that individuals are best suited to make their own decisions. These assumptions are challenged through various studies and cultural comparisons.

💡Individualism

Individualism is the concept that the human being is an independent, self-reliant individual. The video contrasts individualistic American perspectives, where personal choice is highly valued, with more collective cultural views, such as in Japan, where choices may be influenced by a desire for social harmony.

💡Collectivism

Collectivism emphasizes the interdependence of individuals within a social group. The video suggests that in collectivist cultures, like that of Japan, choices are often made with consideration for the group's well-being, rather than solely based on individual preference.

💡Overchoice

Overchoice refers to a situation where individuals are presented with so many options that decision-making becomes difficult or stressful. The video discusses how an excess of choice can lead to decision fatigue and paradoxically reduce satisfaction, even in cultures that typically value choice.

💡Narrative

A narrative is a story or account of events and experiences. The video uses the concept of narrative to discuss how different cultures construct stories around the idea of choice, which can shape their attitudes and behaviors towards decision-making.

💡Translation

Translation in the video is used metaphorically to describe the process of understanding and adapting ideas across different cultures. The speaker suggests that by 'translating' the concept of choice, we can gain a richer, more nuanced understanding of its implications in diverse cultural contexts.

💡Blindness

Blindness is referenced in the video to highlight the speaker's unique perspective on choice, which is less influenced by visual stimuli. This keyword is used to illustrate how choice can be influenced by sensory experiences and how different vantage points can lead to different interpretations of choice.

💡Emotions

Emotions are a response to certain stimuli, associated with choice in the video as they can significantly influence decision-making processes. The speaker mentions how emotions such as fear, guilt, and frustration can arise from the pressure of having to make choices, especially when those choices have serious consequences.

💡Freedom

Freedom, particularly in the context of choice, is portrayed as both an ideal and a challenge. The video suggests that while choice is often equated with freedom, the reality is more complex, with too much choice potentially leading to a sense of constraint rather than liberation.

Highlights

Cultural differences in expectations around customer requests and service.

The American perspective on choice as an expression of individuality and preference.

The Japanese perspective on choice as a duty to protect others from making wrong decisions.

The belief in the universality of the American approach to choice.

The assumption that individuals should make choices that affect them.

The impact of choice on performance, as shown in studies with children.

The role of choice in creating community and harmony in Asian-American culture.

The idea that choice can be a collective act rather than an individual one.

The assumption that more choices lead to better decisions.

The reaction to an abundance of choices in formerly communist countries.

The psychological impact of being overwhelmed by choices.

The assumption that one must never say no to choice.

The emotional burden of making life-and-death choices for loved ones.

The cultural differences in coping with loss and the role of choice in that process.

The narrative of limitless choice and its impact on the American Dream.

The idea that choice can be both liberating and constraining.

The importance of understanding and respecting different narratives of choice.

The potential for choice to be a transformative and creative act.

The responsibility to open ourselves up to a wider array of what choice can represent.

The unique perspective on choice gained from being blind.

The influence of naming and labeling on the perception of choices.

Transcripts

today I'm going to take you around the

world in 18 minutes my base of

operations is in the US but let's start

at the other end of the map in Kyoto

Japan where I was living with a Japanese

family while I was doing part of my

dissertation Ulrike our cultural

differences and misunderstandings but

they popped up when I least expected it

on my first day I went to a restaurant

and I ordered a cup of green tea with

sugar after a pause the waiter said when

does not put sugar in green tea I know I

said I'm aware of this custom but I

really like my tea suite in response he

gave me an even more courteous version

of the same explanation one does not put

sugar in green tea I understand I said

that the Japanese do not put sugar in

their green tea but I'd like to put some

sugar in my green tea

surprised by my insistence the waiter

had to took up the issue with the

manager pretty soon a lengthy discussion

ensued and finally the manager came over

to me and said I am very sorry we do not

have sugar well since I couldn't have my

tea the way I wanted it I ordered a cup

of coffee which the waiter brought

brought over promptly resting on the

saucer were two packets of sugar my

failure to procure myself a cup of sweet

green tea was not due to a simple

misunderstanding

this was due to a fundamental difference

in our ideas about choice for my

American perspective when a paying

customer makes a reasonable request

based on her preferences she has every

right to have that request but the

American way to quote Burger King is to

have it your way because the Starbucks

says happiness is in your choices but

from the Japanese perspective it's their

duty to protect those who don't know any

better in this case the ignorant gaijin

for making the wrong choice let's face

it the way I wanted my tea was

inappropriate according to cultural

standards and they were doing their best

to help me say face Americans tend to

believe that they've reached some sort

of pinnacle in the way they practice

choice they think the choice is seen

through the American lens best fulfills

an innate and universal desire for

choice in all humans

unfortunately these beliefs are based on

assumptions that don't always hold true

in many countries in many cultures at

times they don't even hold true in

America's own borders I'd like to

discuss some of these assumptions and

the problems associated with them as I

do so I hope you'll start thinking about

some of your own assumptions and how

they were shaped by your backgrounds

first assumption if a choice affects you

then you should be the one to make it

this is the only way to ensure that your

preferences and

interests will be most fully accounted

for it is essential for success in

America

the primary locus of choice is the

individual people must choose for

themselves sometimes sticking to their

guns regardless of what other people

want to recommend

it's called being true to yourself but

do all individuals benefit from taking

such an approach to choice mark clipper

and I did a series of studies in which

we sought the answer to this very

question in one study which we ran in

Japan town San Francisco we brought

seven to nine year-old angle and

asian-american children into the

laboratory and we divided them up into

three groups the first group came in and

they were greeted by Miss Smith who

showed them six peak piles of anagram

puzzles the kids got to choose which

pile of anagrams they would like to do

and they even got to choose which marker

they would write their answers with when

the second group of children came in

they were brought to the same room shown

the same anagrams but this time Miss

Smith told them which anagrams to do and

which markers to write their answers

with now when the third group came in

they were told that their anagrams and

their markers had been chosen by their

mothers

in reality the kids who were told would

to do whether by Miss Smith or their

mothers were actually given the very

same activity which their counterparts

and the first group had freely chosen

with this procedure we were able to

ensure that the kids across the three

groups all did the same activity making

it easier for us to compare performance

such small differences in the way we

administered the activity yielded

striking differences in how well they

performed in low Americans they did two

and a half times more anagrams when they

got to choose them as compared to when

it was chosen for them by Miss Smith or

their mothers it didn't matter who did

the choosing if the task was dictated by

another their performance suffered in

fact some of the kids were visibly

embarrassed when they were told that

their mothers had been consulted one

girl named Mary said you asked my mother

in contrast Asian American children

performed best when they believed their

mothers had made the choice second best

when they chose for themselves and least

well when it had been chosen by Miss

Smith a girl named Natsume even

approached Miss Smith as she was leaving

the room and tugged on her skirt and

asked could you please tell my mommy I

did it just like she said the first

generation children were strongly

influenced by their immigrant parents

approach to choice for them choice was

not just a way of defining and asserting

their individuality but a way to create

community and harmony by deferring to

the choices of people who may trust it

and respect it if they had a concept of

being true to oneself then that self

most likely composed not of an

individual but of a collective success

was just as much about pleasing key

figures as it was about satisfying one's

own preferences or you could say that

the individuals preferences were shaped

by

preferences of specific others the

assumption then that we do best when the

individual self chooses only holes when

that self is clearly divided from others

when in contrast two or more individuals

see their choices and their outcomes as

intimately connected then they may

amplify one another success by turning

choosing into a collective act to insist

that they choose independently might

actually compromise both their

performance and their relationships yet

that is exactly what the American

paradigm demands it leaves little room

for interdependence or an

acknowledgement of individual phal

ability it requires that everyone treat

choice as a private and self defining

act people that have grown up in such a

paradigm might find it motivating but it

is a mistake to assume that everyone

thrives under the pressure of choosing

alone the second assumption which

informs the American view of choice goes

something like this the more choices you

have the more likely you are to make the

best choice so bring it on Walmart with

a hundred thousand different products

Amazon with 27 million bucks and

match.com with what is it 15 million

date possibilities now you will surely

find the perfect match let's test this

assumption by heading over to Eastern

Europe here I interviewed people who

were residents of formerly communist

countries we'd all face the challenge of

transitioning to a more democratic and

capitalistic society one of the most

interesting revelations came not from an

answer to a question but from a simple

gesture of hospitality when the

participants arrived for their interview

I offered them a set of drinks coke dyed

coke sprite

seven to be exact during the very first

session which was run in Russia what are

the participants made

comment that really caught me off guard

oh but it doesn't matter it's all just

soda that's just one choice I was so

struck by this comment that from then on

I started to offer all the participants

those seven sodas and I asked them how

many choices are these again and again

they perceived these seven different

sodas not as seven choices but as one

choice soda or no soda when I put out

juice and water in addition to these

seven sodas now they perceived it as

Billy three choices juice water and soda

compare this to the die-hard devotion of

many Americans not just to a particular

flavor of soda but to a particular brand

you know research shows repeatedly that

we can't actually tell the difference

between Coke and Pepsi of course you and

I know that Coke is the better choice

for modern Americans who are exposed to

more options and more ads associated

with options than anyone else in the

world choice is just as much about who

they are as it is about what the product

is combine this with the assumption that

more choices are always better and you

have a group of people for whom every

little difference matters and so every

choice matters but for Eastern Europeans

the sudden availability of all these

consumer products on the marketplace was

a deluge

they were flooded with choice before

they could protest that they did not

swim when asked what words and images do

you associate with choice

greggers from Warsaw said ah for me it

is fear there are some dilemmas you see

I am used to no choice Bohdan from Kiev

said in response to how we felt about

the new consumer marketplace is too much

we do not need everything that is there

a sociologist from the Warsaw survey

agency explained the older generation

jumped from nothing to choice all around

them they were never given a chance to

learn how to react and Tomas a young

Polish man said I do not need twenty

kinds of chewing gum I don't mean to say

that I want no choice but many of these

choices are quite artificial in reality

many choices are between things that are

not that much different the value of

choice depends on our ability to

perceive differences between the options

Americans train their whole lives to

play spot the difference they practice

this from such an early age that they've

come to believe that everyone must be

born with this ability in fact though

all humans share a basic need and desire

for choice we don't all see choice in

the same places or to the same extent

when someone can't see how one choice is

unlike another when there are too many

choices to compare and contrast the

process of choosing can be confused

and frustrated instead of making better

choices we've become overwhelmed by

choice

sometimes even afraid of it choice no

longer offers opportunities but imposes

constraints it's not a marker of

liberation but of suffocation by

meaningless minutiae in other words

choice can develop into the very

opposite of everything it represents in

America when it is thrust upon those who

are insufficiently prepared for it but

it is not only other people in other

places that are feeling the pressure of

ever-increasing choice Americans

themselves are discovering that

unlimited choice seems more attractive

in theory than in practice we all have

physical mental and emotional and

emotional limitations that make it

impossible for us to process every

single choice we encounter even in the

grocery store let alone over the course

of our entire lives a number of my

studies have shown that when you give

people 10 or more options when they're

making a choice they make poor decisions

whether it be health care investment

other critical areas it's still many of

us believe that we should make all our

own choices and seek out even more of

them this brings me to the third and

perhaps most problematic assumption you

must never say no to choice to examine

is let's go back to the US and then hop

across the pond to France right outside

Chicago a young couple Susan and Daniel

Mitchell were about to have their first

baby they'd already picked out a name

for her Barbara after her grandmother

one night when Susan was 7 months

pregnant she started to experience

contractions and was rushed to the

emergency room the baby was delivered

through a c-section

but Barbara suffered cerebral anoxia a

loss of oxygen to the brain unable to

breathe on her own she was put on a

ventilator

two days later the doctors gave the

Mitchells a choice they could either

remove Barbara off the life support in

which case she would die within a matter

of hours or they could keep her on life

support in which case she might still

die within a matter of days if she

survived she would remain in a permanent

vegetative state never able to walk talk

or interact with others what do they do

what do any parent do in a study I

conducted with Simona Botti and Cristina

or folly American and French parents

were interviewed they had all suffered

the same tragedy in all cases the life

support was removed and the infants had

died but there was a big difference in

France the doctors decided whether and

when the life support would be removed

while in the United States the final

decision rested with the parents we

wondered does this have an effect on how

the parents cope with the loss of their

loved one we found that it did even up

to a year later American parents were

more likely to express negative emotions

as compared to their French counterparts

French parents were more likely to say

things like no one was here for so

little time but he taught us so much he

gave us a new perspective on life

American parents were more likely to say

things like what if what if another

parents complained I feel as if they

purposely tortured me how did they get

meted to that and another parent said I

feel as if I've played a role in an

execution but when the American parents

were asked if they would rather have had

the doctors make the decision they all

said no they could not

imagine turning that choice over to

another even though having made that

choice made them feel trapped guilty

angry in a number of cases they were

even clinically depressed these parents

could not contemplate giving up the

choice because to do so would have gone

contrary to everything they had been

taught and everything they had come to

believe about the power and purpose of

choice in her essay the White Album Joan

Didion writes we tell ourselves stories

in order to live we interpret what we

see select the most workable of the

multiple choices we live entirely by the

imposition of a narrative line upon

disparate images by the idea with which

we learn to freeze the shifting

phantasmagoria which is our actual

experience the story Americans tell the

story upon which the American Dream

depends is the story of limitless choice

this narrative promises so much freedom

happiness success it lays the world at

your feet and says you can have anything

everything it's a great story and it's

understandable why they would be

reluctant to revise it but when you take

a close look you start to see the holes

and you start to see that the story can

be told in many other ways Americans

have so often tried to disseminate their

ideas of choice believing that they will

be or ought to be welcomed with open

hearts and minds but the history books

and the daily news tell us it doesn't

always work out that way the fence has

magorium the actual experience that we

try to understand and organize through

narrative varies from place to place

no single narrative serves

needs of everyone everywhere moreover

Americans themselves could benefit from

incorporating new perspectives into

their own narrative which has been

driving their choices for so long

Robert Frost once said that it is poetry

that is lost in translation this

suggests that whatever is beautiful and

moving whatever gives us a new way to

see cannot be communicated to those who

speak a different language but Joseph

Brodsky said that it is poetry that is

gained in translation suggesting the

translation can be a creative

transformative act when it comes to

choice we have far more to gain than to

lose by engaging in the many

translations of the narratives instead

of replacing one story with another we

can learn from and revel in the many

versions that exist and the many that

have yet to be written no matter where

we're from and what your narrative is we

all have a responsibility to open

ourselves up to a wider array of what

choice can do and what it can represent

and this does not lead to a paralyzing

moral relativism rather it teaches us

when and how to act it brings us that

much closer to realizing the full

potential of choice to inspiring the

hope and achieving the freedom that

choice promises but doesn't always

deliver if we learn to speak to one

another albeit through translation then

we can begin to see choice and all its

strangeness complexity and compelling

beauty thank you

Thank You Sheena there is a detail that

about your biography that we have not

written in the program book but by now

it's evident to everyone in this room

you're blind and I guess one of the

questions in everybody's mind is how

does that influence your study of

choosing because that's an activity that

for most people is associated with

visual inputs like aesthetics and color

and and so on

well it's funny that you should ask that

because one of the things that's

interesting about being blind is you

actually get a different vantage point

when you observe other the way sighted

people make choices and as you just

mentioned these lots of choices out

there that are very visual these days

yeah I like you know as you would expect

get pretty frustrated by choices like

what nail polish color to put on because

I have to rely on what other people

suggest right and I can't decide and so

one time I was in a beauty salon and I

was trying to decide between two very

light shades of pink and one was called

ballet slippers and the other one was

called adorable

and so I asked these two ladies in the

one lady told me well you should

definitely wear ballet slippers but what

does it look like well it's a very

elegant shade of pink okay great the

other lady tells me to wear adorable

what does it look like it's a glamorous

shade of pink and so I asked him well

how do I tell them apart what's

different about them and they said well

one is elegant the other one's glamorous

okay we got that and the only thing they

had consensus on well if I could see

them I would clearly be able to tell

them apart and what I wondered was

whether they were being affected by the

name or the constants of the color so I

decided to do a little experiment so I

brought these little these two bottles

of nail polish into the laboratory and I

stripped the labels off and I brought

women into the laboratory and I asked

them which one would you pick 50% of the

women accused me of playing a trick of

putting the same colored nail polish in

both those bottles

yeah I wish when you start to wonder who

the Trix really played on now of the of

the women that could tell them apart

when the labels were off they picked

adorable and when the nabel's when the

labels were on they picked ballet

slippers so as far as I can tell a rose

by any other name probably does look

different and maybe even smells

different